The Ride Out
by Molli3
Summary: FALLEN KINGDOM SPOILERS! This is just a little scene I thought of after I watched it, it picks up immediately where the movie ends, so if you haven't seen it, this will ruin a big "oh crap" moments... I'M INSANE BUT... if you actually want this to continue then tell me where to go with it- PROMPT STORY ONLY - I will write more based on requests... Have fun ;-)
1. Chapter 1

_**SPOILERS seriously this will ruin the end of the movie for you. But enjoy if you've seen it =)**_

"You okay back there, Maize?" Owen asked finally, keeping his gaze on the rearview mirror as her eyes flicked up at him briefly.

She gave him the shrug all kids did when they didn't want to answer, Owen recognized it immediately, but he'd never been on the receiving end and had no idea how to respond. Another glance at Claire proved just as helpful as the first.

"Am I a real person?" Owen's heart sank with the tiny question from the backseat and he screeched the Wagoneer's brakes while pulling to the narrow shoulder.

"Yes, Maisie," the truck lurched as he threw it in park and twisted in his seat, "You are as real as me, or Claire-"

"But, I'm a clone," she said simply.

"Cool!" Owen nodded, "But, you're still real, you're still human, you gotta eat, and drink, and," he let his words trail away before finishing his explanation of the digestive track.

Maisie's blank expression broke as the corners of her mouth tugged down and her eyes fell away from him to her lap. Owen looked at Claire, silently insisting she interject, and the redhead sighed quietly.

"Maisie," she began, "The dinosaurs are real right?" her sad brown eyes raised to Claire, but she said nothing and Claire continued, "Does how they were created make them less alive than other animals?" this time Maisie shook her head, "So, then why would you be less real than anybody else?"

Maisie shrugged again, but more accepting than averting, and grinned a little at Claire, shifting her dark brown eyes to Owen.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked tentatively.

"I got a place," he assured her, giving Claire a small smile when her hand found his knee.

"Am I staying with you?" Maisie's question was hopeful, her earnest gaze locked on his.

"Got somewhere else you'd rather be?" Owen lifted an eyebrow, expelling a soft laugh when she shook her head adamantly, "Then get comfy, kid. We got a drive ahead of us."

Owen flipped around in the seat, pulling the shifter down and accelerated onto the empty road.

It didn't stay empty long, however, when they passed a caravan of black SUV's going in the opposite direction. Owen tensed when their brake lights lit up like a slot machine he'd rather not win, and glanced at Claire with his best attempt at nervous neutrality, not wanting to alarm Maisie.

The flashing lights were expected and Owen was already pulling off to the side of the road, shifting his gaze from Claire, to the reflection of the trucks behind, to Maisie with a forced grin, and repeated the cycle until he saw men in suits approaching from the caravan. Government. No one else chose to look like that big of a douche.

With a heavy sigh and an eye roll at Claire, Owen pushed out of the Wagoneer, remembering to hold a finger up at Maisie, silently promising to only be a minute, before shutting the door. Claire's door followed and they met behind the truck, disheveled, yet unified, as the official looking men neared.

"Claire Dearing?" the dark-haired man leading three others asked, his shiny shoes scuffing in the dirt as he stopped.

"Who are you?" Owen asked, putting a hand on Claire's arm, but she slipped it away.

"Agent Dean with Homeland Security," he said, removing his dark sunglasses, "Are you Mister Grady?"

"Owen," he responded simply, barely responding to the agent's curt nod.

"Ms. Dearing," Agent Dean shifted his squinting gaze and said, "We tried to reach you by phone-"

"We've been a little off the grid," Owen scoffed and Claire pressed her heel on his toes.

"We understand that," Agent Dean scowled, "but Secretary Walker needed to get in contact with you as soon as possible-"

"Who the hell is that?" Owen's question earned an actual stomp to his toes and glared at Claire.

"The head of Homeland Security," she whispered harshly and he grimaced apologetically at her before hardening his expression on the agent.

"Of course," Claire said, "What can we do?"

"We're deploying Coast Guard and reserved units to the area around Lockwood Estate, I'm sure you can understand the importance of containing and eliminating this threat to our mainland," Agent Dean continued, "Yours, and Mister Grady's, expertise will be vital in, _alleviating,_ this problem we have on our hands-"

"What'd you mean _alleviating_?" Owen asked, but he knew exactly what Agent Dean meant.

"That's why we need you two, Owen," he said simply, "While Secretary Walker, and others, hope some of these de-extinct animals can be preserved, considering they're already here, you have to agree there are creatures on the loose now that must be stopped at all costs."

Owen and Claire turned to each other and together looked through the rear windshield, seeing Maisie's brown hair swish as she flipped forward. Claire sighed and he nodded, understanding her silent concern for the young, human clone in their care, but Owen saw no reason anyone would need to know Maisie was anything besides Lockwood's granddaughter.

"We're not doin' this here," Owen told Agent Dean.

"Of course," he nodded, "If you'll follow us, we have a secure bunker not far-"

"A bunker?" Owen expelled a laugh, "Is this the apocalypse?"

Agent Dean narrowed his eyes even further on Owen and growled, "Well, I don't know Mister Grady. _Dinosaurs_ are loose in California, the ones that weren't _sold to our country's greatest enemies_. I'm not well read on Revelations, but it's the closest to the end of the world I've ever seen."

Owen said nothing and the Agent strode back to the caravan, the others pivoting to follow him.

"Let's go," Claire jerked her head as she started moving towards the passenger door.

"You trust them?" Owen asked.

"If the government had gotten involved to help the island earlier we wouldn't be in this mess," Claire spat, nearly in tears, "I at least want the opportunity to tell them that."

Owen rolled his eyes when she turned away, taking a deep breath before wrenching the driver's door open and dropping back behind the wheel.

 _ **PS- I'm having sort of a crappy couple days, I'm working on the other stories, this was just a nice break for me.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_I was not really expecting as much feedback and ideas as you guys gave me but wow awesome! I've decided I'm going to do my best to use every one of them, at least a version, and some of them went together really well which will be incorporated intodd this story. All I ask is for your genuine opinion on your own prompt. I do have two other fanfiction stories I'm very involved in keeping up to date regularly and this will be more of a back burner project, but I will keep writing if you stay interested and doubt I'd ever go longer than 2/3 months without an update at the absolute longest._**

 ** _Britestar ;-), we see more parental aspects falling in here, and sparking struggles, and a Guest requested Claire has a flashback while their playing in the lake._**

 ** _Please enjoy_**

Despite Claire's grumbling threats all the way to the government bunker, when they were introduced to Secretary Walker, she forced a tightlipped grin and nodded at his extremely reasonable requests- stay in contact and assist in creating a game plan to handle the dinosaur problem. Maisie had seemed content to sit with a few clerks and watch movies on a tablet while Owen and Claire spent several hours with the Secretary and top agents. Claire was obviously relieved at the promise of an already inhabitable sanctuary, though that had changed when Secretary Walker made their intentions clear about the carnivorous predators. The United States government would need the chance to protect itself against the possible weapons enemy countries could potentially create from the beasts that had already been purchased and shipped from the Lockwood Estate.

Owen refused their offer to put them up in a safe house, insisting they'd be plenty safe where they were going, and hoping that was true. Maisie had seemed significantly more downtrodden when they left the meeting, but she'd leapt from the swivel chair and snatched Owen's hand as he led them back to the Jeep. He smiled at Claire, jerking his head slightly at Maisie, and Claire tried not to return his happiness, so she'd looked away.

Claire had found him at his partially finished cabin on top of a hill by the lake, though she seemed more impressed on the second visit. Maisie was ecstatic. Owen laughed watching her dash through the cabin frame and down the hill, until Claire whispered harshly at him to keep her close.

"Okay, Maize, c'mere!" he yelled, after a near attempt at telling Claire she needed to relax.

"Hold on!" Maisie called back, jumping a little further towards the water.

Owen scoffed to himself, turning with a shrug to Claire. She scowled, clearly unimpressed with his attempt, and Owen sighed, turning back to the exuberant little girl.

"C'mon, Maisie, we'll come out later!" he yelled promisingly.

"Can we swim later?" her question was so hopeful Owen's chest filled.

"Course we can, just come up for a minute," he knew Claire was glaring at him before he even turned around and grimaced as he said, "Up for a dip?"

"No, Owen, we should check the area and make sure it's safe," she hissed, "Do you even know what's in that lake?"

"Water," he suggested, continuing less sarcastically when her scowl hardened, "Maybe a few bass and eels, but c'mon, there's nothing dangerous in there. Let the kid have some fun."

Claire's scoff as she walked away reminded Owen of his mother when she'd been upset with his father's decision, but had nothing to say against it.

Maisie huffed up the hill, stopping right in front of him with a beaming smile.

"I like your house," she said.

"Thanks," he chuckled, "not much of a house yet, but I've got enough room in the camper while I finish the cabin."

"Can I help?" Maisie asked and Owen smiled.

"I'd like that, kid," he nodded, "Let's get in and find out what Claire wants-"

"Are you guys married?" she asked abruptly, making Owen shake his head as he laughed.

"No, no we're not married. Pretty sure she can't stand me," he scoffed lightly.

"No, she loves you," Maisie assured him and ran towards the camper.

"That might be even scarier," Owen grumbled, grabbing a few bags from the Jeep on his way.

He'd allowed very little time for Maisie to pack anything before they left, after finding Iris, her caretaker, mauled on the second floor landing and nearly slapping his hand over her face to avoid Maisie seeing her corpse. Her silence for the several hours that followed, however, told him his effort to hide the carnage failed. But a few attempts to get her to talk about Iris in the Jeep hadn't been profitable, so Owen was just hoping Maisie was processing, or would at least talk to them when she was ready.

"Maize," he tossed her duffel on the couch inside his camper as the door banged behind him, "You got a suit in here?" her expression crumpled, making Owen's stomach turn anxiously as he shook his head and quickly assured her, "It's fine, kid, I was just askin', y'don't really need one. Underwear and a t-shirt's pretty much the same thing."

"It's really not," Claire muttered under her breath.

"No," she turned on him with a heart broken expression.

"It's fine," Owen smiled.

"No it's-" Claire began, but stopped herself and returned to tidying the single kitchen counter.

"What can I do, Claire?" Owen made sure to keep his tone light and even, but knew Claire understood his irritation.

She took a deep breath before turning around, forcing a grin a Maisie on the tattered camper couch, and saying calmly, if not condescendingly, "I think it might be smart to check the perimeter, Owen."

She wasn't wrong, and Owen shrugged, "I'll do a few rounds with my bike. Do you mind unpacking?"

Claire nodded, but before she could respond, Maisie jumped off the couch, in front of Owen with a huge, expectant smile, "Can I come with you?"

Owen didn't need to look at Claire to respond, but he glanced at her anyway before saying, "I don't have a helmet for y'kid, and I'm not sure what I'll be runnin' into out there just yet."

Her bottom lip jutted out just a bit as Maisie's smile fell and she crossed her arms on the way back to the couch.

"I could really use your help, Maisie," Claire said sweetly, but Maisie hardly acknowledged she'd heard.

"Hey," Owen tugged the little girl back in front of himself by the shoulder seam of her t-shirt and gently tilted her head with his finger, "Next time I run into town for stuff we'll find you a helmet 'n then you can come with me. Cool?"

The corners of her mouth tugged up as she agreed, "Cool."

"Alright, cool," Owen righted himself and jerked his head towards Claire, "Help her out, would'ja?"

Maisie nodded, her smile widening when Owen tousled her hair on his way out the door.

There were exactly as many dinosaurs in the surrounding area as Owen expected, none. But, because he knew he had to be thorough, and Claire would bully him into doing it again if she didn't think he had been, Owen didn't return to the camper until after sundown. Even then, he sat for several minutes scanning the valley and lake below.

"Did you find any dinosaurs?" the little voice surprised him and Owen whipped around on Maisie.

"No," he expelled a sigh of relief from the brief shock, "Not this time."

"They're going to," Maisie said in a strange, distant tone that made Owen furrow his brow nervously.

"Whatcha mean, kid?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer as she stared at him, maybe through him.

"It's nice here," Maisie said simply, "They just want a peaceful place to live."

Owen consider this for a minute before nodding slowly, "You're probably right, Maize, but not all the dinosaurs are looking for peace."

"But will a few bad ones make all of them targets?" her question was far smarter than anything Owen would've come up with at her age.

"I hope not, kiddo," he smirked as hopefully as he could manage.

"Are we going swimming now?" she asked abruptly.

"It's, uh, kinda late, Maize," Owen would agree with Claire on this, he didn't even need to ask what she'd think, "We'll go tomorrow, okay?"

Maisie was clearly disappointed, but didn't argue as she shrugged and turned back towards the camper. It probably stung Owen worse than if she had disputed his decision.

"Maize," he called and she looked at him with big, sad eyes, "We good?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "we're good."

He was pretty sure she was lying, but Owen followed with a heavy sigh, shaking his head in disbelief of his current situation. His ex-girlfriend was inside the temporary house she'd previously refused to live in while he built the cabin of his (and hopefully her) dreams and a kid, a clone kid at that, had latched onto him like a runt raptor.

"Find anything?" Claire asked the moment he walked through the door.

"T-Rex colony startin' on the other side of the lake, but they already built a Starbucks so I'll take it as a win," he continued to smirk at Claire despite the glare she leveled him with and, finally, Owen broke, "I'm sorry, I'm kidding."

"Such a wonderful time for jokes," she said dryly.

Owen rolled his eyes at Maisie when Claire turned back to the stove and Maisie laughed hard, covering her mouth when Claire flipped around, scowling at Owen.

The night rolled on a bit better, playing a card game after dinner before Claire set the expandable couch into quite a comfortable bed for Maisie. Leaving only one problem.

"I can, uh, sleep in the truck," Owen offered as they stared at the only bed in the camper together, hoping she didn't make him do that.

"Don't be ridiculous," Claire scoffed and Owen internally sighed, "Just don't get, handsy."

Owen scoffed, though it was less confident than hers had been.

It required him keeping his back to her the entire night, or at least what he was conscious of it, but managed to not let his hands linger near what he knew was a very pleasant place for them to roam. He was alone the next morning, though, and hurried out of bed, his heart skipping a beat when Maisie wasn't on the couch.

Their laughter reached his ears as Owen rounded the back of the camper, slowing his hurried stride and sighing with relief at the sight of Claire chasing Maisie around a large pine tree. His arms swung at his sides as he halted, watching them and catching his breath with a smile. He could tell Claire had been worried about Maisie's feelings towards her, but they seemed perfectly suited together, running and giggling in the morning sun.

"Owen's up!" Maisie yelled as she spotted him, bolting from her game with Claire as the redhead rounded the pine tree.

He felt guilty seeing the smirk of sadness cross Claire's face, but he couldn't help a grin at the beaming smile below him.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, "Y'look like you're havin' fun."

"Yeah," she shrugged, "Can we go swimming?"

"Uh," Owen looked up at Claire, who shrugged as well and refused to meet his eye for more than a moment, "Yeah, sure we can. Why don't you go grab a few towels."

"Okay!" Maisie bolted towards the camper as Claire approached him, both of them watching the little girl sprint up the incline.

"Looked like you two were havin' fun," Owen tried to grin, but Claire's neutral expression faltered his feigned excitement.

" _That_ took like twenty minutes of coaxing her out of the camper," Claire scoffed, "Promising _you_ weren't going anywhere."

"Well, what can I say?" Owen chuckled, but stopped at Claire's hard scowl, "C'mon, I saved the kid from getting eaten by a dinosaur. Y'can't blame her for being a little, more, attached, to me."

"Yeah," she almost rolled her eyes on her way passed him, "I get it."

Owen swallowed the need to explain exactly what he didn't think she understood, which was everything about the room he'd found Maisie in with the Indoraptor crouching over her bed. She'd practically latched herself to him from that moment, after losing her caretaker and, well, whatever Benjamin Lockwood was to her, Owen couldn't blame Maisie for being a bit clinging.

"Are we going swimming now?" Maisie leapt off the camper stairs, just a short distance, but Claire gasped in the doorway behind her, clutching a few towels closer to her chest.

"May, please, just be careful, please," Claire said with breathless surprise and Maisie looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry," she muttered, pathetically enough to make Claire shake her head and smile.

"You're fine, I'm just a worry wart," she laughed, "Just be careful."

"I will," Maisie beamed and bolted down the hill much faster than either adult was willing to go.

Claire sighed, but said nothing, though it was enough for Owen to know he should and he took a deep breath before calling, "Maize! Slow down! And don't get in the water without us!"

Her head rolled, as if Maisie wanted to make sure Owen saw she'd rolled her eyes at him, but stopped her progress on the hill and started slumping down it like a funeral march. Owen and Claire exchanged a quiet laugh, stopping the moment they realized who they were enjoying a moment with, but Owen smiled at her and Claire couldn't stifle a genuine upward jerk in the corners of her lips.

"C'mon!" Maisie called, nearly at the water.

Owen chuckled and hurried his pace down the steep hill, looking back at Claire, "Be careful."

"I've had some practice under more dangerous circumstances," she scoffed, "I'm fine."

"Least you're wearin' smarter shoes this time," he muttered, turning back around and skipping over a rock.

"Thought you liked shoes like that," Claire said and Owen's ears tingled with heat, stumbling over a short bush when he tried to glance at her and she burst out laughing, "Are you okay?"

Owen laughed it off, shaking his head with a smile and no less than jogged the rest of the way to the lake. Maisie was already laying her jeans over her flannel on a large rock near the lake and Owen found great interest in the puffy, white clouds, one of them kind of looked like an elephant.

"Owen, are you coming?" Maisie sighed heavily.

"Yeah, kid," he cleared his throat and turned awkwardly to look at her, relieved to see her undershirt ran a bit passed her behind, he had no idea what the rules were for swimming with kids when you were an adult man, but he really didn't want to break them.

Maisie wasted no time and ran into the lake while Owen pulled his shirt over his head, thankful he hadn't changed out of the athletic shorts he'd slept in. Claire shucked her jeans, revealing rather conservative short-style panties, but Owen swallowed hard when he stole a glance, they hugged her in all the right places.

"How's the water, Maize?" Owen asked, kicking his shoes off and following Claire to the water's edge.

"C-c-old," she shivered dramatically and Owen stuck a foot in the lake, it was cold, but not unbearable.

"Its not that bad," he laughed, flicking his foot and splashing Maisie, who giggled madly and slapped the water, sending a much larger wave towards him and Claire, the latter was less amused than the other two.

Claire waded in slowly while Owen dove at Maisie, her giggling scream echoed in the open valley as she splashed at him and tried to hurry away. But he snatched her foot and dragged her closer, a turbulent stream erupted in rough waves around Maisie's thrashing limbs. Owen squeezed her sides, earning another burst of laughter, and picked Maisie up, dropping her gently back into the lake. Maisie kicked and splashed at him, sputtering a bit as she righted herself in the water. But her head fell back, disappearing beneath the rippling lake water before she lurched upward coughing through giggles.

"OWEN!" Claire's sudden screech froze the pair's play, turning towards her angry, wide-eyed expression, but, before any more words escaped her gaping mouth, Claire dissolved into sobs.

Owen pushed through the water as Claire turned her back, burying her face in her wet hands, and wrapped his arms around her. She tried to tear his hands from her, but he held tighter until Claire's weight was supported in his arms while she collapsed into sobs. Maisie appeared at his side, but sidled towards the bank at his head jerk and pleading gaze.

"Claire," Owen said softly, but her cries hardly decreased, "Claire, please, what's wrong?"

Her breath became short and, trying not to panic, he lifted her into his arms and forced his legs to shore as fast as he could.

"Claire!" Owen nearly yelled, crouching over her the moment he settled her on the grass and held her face in his hands.

She wasn't focused on him, even though her eyes continued to land on him while darting madly in different directions, she was far away, trapped in terrified thoughts. Without truly considering his actions, Owen tapped her gently across the cheek, retracting his fingers and arm instantly when her icy gaze locked on his surprised eyes.

"I'm sorry," he insisted, "I was just, you were just-"

Claire's breathing had hardly calmed, still heaving, but her expression softened and she looked down, grimacing.

"I'm sorry," she tried to bury her head in her hands again, but Owen caught her wrists gently, holding them both in one large hand as he wiped tears from her cheeks with his thumb before cradling her chin in his palm.

"It's okay," he said, "What happened? What, what did I do?"

Her expression broke again with a quick sob that Owen immediately tried to hush, feeling worse from renewing her pain, but Claire took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, but pushed on in a shaky voice, "It's not you, I'm, just," she took a deep breath, "When I was in the gyrosphere, when Franklin and I were in the orb and we, went," she trailed off again, but Owen at least understood her thoughts.

"But you're safe," he said, "I got you-"

"I know," she nodded vigorously, "I know, I'm just, it all felt, _real_ again," she sighed sharply, snatching her hands from his and wiping her face with the tips of her fingers, "I'm sorry, I'm a crazy person-"

"You're not-" he tried.

"I'm fine," she insisted, looking far from fine, "Really."

"Really?" Owen raised an eyebrow, his tone dripping with disbelief.

"Yes, really," Claire lowered her gaze at him, but quickly looked up and around distractedly, "Where's Maisie?"

Owen sprang to a stance, turning every possible way, but saw nothing but tall grass and trees blowing in the breeze. His gut managed to twist while plummeting to his feet.

"Maisie!" he yelled, waiting several moments with nothing but the wind in his ears before calling again, "MAISIE!"

Claire leapt to her feet, and the two turned in opposite directions, working their way up the hill as they called for the little girl, it was a duet to which they were far to familiar with the steps and lyrics.

"Maisie where are you?!" Claire's voice was much stronger than it had been minutes before, pumped with fearful adrenaline.

Near the camper, they both turned on the valley, surveying from the highest point, yet still found no trace of the dark-haired child.

"I'm takin' my bike into the woods," Owen said decidedly, "Stay here unless she comes back."

"You think she just took off?" Claire's question was equal parts horrified and saddened by the idea.

Owen smirked angrily and rolled his eyes, "I think she thinks she's exploring."

"I'm just supposed to stay here?" Claire scoffed.

"You wanna take the bike instead?" he gestured the motorcycle and Claire scowled at him.

"Screw you, Owen," she said, obviously refusing to admit his original plan was the best option, and Claire shut herself inside the camper.

Without wasting another moment, Owen hopped onto his bike and turned the key, lifting his knee to kick start the engine just as Claire threw the door open, banging against the side of his camper. Her mouth was hanging open while she tossed her hands in the air a few times before folding her arms.

It took him only a moment to understand Claire's livid disbelief, the moment Maisie appeared behind her in the doorway. Owen felt his own temper flare.

"What the hell Maisie?" he tried not to bark, but got off his motorcycle and approached the camper quickly, "Did you hear us calling you?"

She looked more confused than frightened, but there was certainly an element of shocked fear on the little girl's face. Maisie nodded slowly and Owen's frustration burned deeper.

"I wanted to see if you had different books on dinosaurs than my grandpa," her face crumbled with sadness while tears leaked down her cheeks and Owen found his anger dissolving.

He took her into his arms, patting her back while her soft cries were muffled into his shoulder. Claire, however, raised an eyebrow and mouthed to him, ' _she can't do that_ '. To which Owen offered a small, pacifying nod, silently promising he'd deal with Maisie running off and ignoring them. And he would, just as soon as she wasn't a mess of tears in his arms.

 _ **I look forward to hearing what you think!**_


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